He went the distance a month ago at Bellator 86 against Koffi Adzitso to advance to the Season 8 welterweight tournament semifinals, and he wasn’t happy about it.

“I was furious in my last fight and came out of the cage cursing because it went to a decision,” Saunders (15-5-2 MMA, 6-2 BFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’m looking for a finish every time. If they make it to a decision, they definitely gain respect from me. But I definitely feel like I failed as a fighter.”

It would be pretty harsh to call Saunders winning with three 30-27 scores against Adzitso a failure. The fact he’s only gone to a decision three times in 15 career wins at least means he can take it easy on himself most of the time.

Against Adzitso (18-10 MMA, 0-1 BFC), it was almost understandable.

“I didn’t know anything about Koffi Adzitso,” Saunders said. “All I can do is assume the worst. So I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m about to face the toughest guy I’ve fought in my life. I’m about to face a world champion in K-1 kickboxing, a world champion in jiu-jitsu and a wrestling All-American.’ If I don’t know anything about you, that’s definitely how I’m going in to the fight. The fact that Koffi was able to take some of the shots I gave him, he definitely had a chin and I give him mad respect. He played some good defense.”

But now Saunders faces a familiar foe on Thursday when he meets Raul Amaya (11-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC) in the tourney semifinals at Bellator 90, which takes place at Maverik Center in Salt Lake City. The event’s main card airs live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Amaya stopped Jose Gomes in the first round at Bellator 86 to advance to a rematch with Saunders, who beat him this past March in the opening round of the Season 6 welterweight tournament.

And guess what? Saunders beat him by unanimous decision. We now know what that means.

“I’m frustrated statistically about my first fight with Raul Amaya,” Saunders said. “I’m frustrated that I couldn’t get the finish. But let’s be real: I honestly feel if there were a few more minutes in the fight that I would’ve gotten the finish. One of the judges gave me a 30-26, so I definitely got a 10-8 round in there.”

Saunders was going after submissions, and Amaya held on. That helps make him a threat, Saunders believes.

“Amaya has the biggest heart in the world – and balls,” Saunders said. “He’s got a good chin, too. I’m not saying I took him lightly in the first fight by any means, but I do believe that I maybe had a little too much fun out there. I think I could’ve and should’ve submitted him quite a few times. At one point, I thought he tapped to an armbar, and I kind of eased up. That was pretty stupid on my part. Then I had a triangle I could have finished, and I had a whole bunch of submissions that I was throwing at him. And he hung tough.

“Honestly, someone with heart and a chin – those are two attributes you really have to watch out for.”

But as long as the 6-foot-3 Saunders is being honest, he’s typically at a major disadvantage when he’s fighting for Bellator. Bellator tournament opening-round fights and semifinals don’t allow elbows to the head. The damage that can result could be the difference between someone moving on, or being medically ruled out from cuts, despite winning.

It’s a rule that Saunders, a muay Thai practitioner, is not particularly fond of. If they were allowed, maybe things would’ve been different for him against Amaya and Adzitso.

“I could be the Jon ‘Bones’ Jones of 170 pounds, but these motherf—ers won’t let me do it,” Saunders said. “And we haven’t even seen what my elbows can really do, because I don’t want to go off in practice and hurt my teammates. So all I can do is train and practice and prepare, but the only true experience I really get to see how viciously brutal I can get with elbows is when I’m in that cage. And I haven’t been able to use elbows in most of my fights. It’s f—ing annoying, man.”

The solution is a simple one: Beat Amaya and get back to the finals, where elbows are fair game. There, he would face the winner of Douglas Lima vs. Bryan Baker – again with revenge on his mind. Those two have handed him his only Bellator losses, Lima in the Season 5 tournament finals, and Baker in the Season 6 semis.

“I’ve got to make it to the finals,” he said. “I get to use (elbows) there, I’ll get that belt and then I get to use them every day, all day, for the rest of my entire career, as I retain that title until I retire. That is the plan. This is my year, and we’re going to make that s— happen, because I’m f—ing over it.

“My eye is on the prize right now. I’m going to be in shape and I’m going to be on-point with my skills, and I just feel that I’m a more technical fighter. Raul Amaya is a brawler and I’m a technical fighter. I’m 6-2 in Bellator, so obviously I’m good at what I’m doing. I had six months off coming into this tournament, so that was the mental and physical break that my body needed to rejuvenate, to recover and to reboot. Now I need that money and I’m coming for it, man.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.